The Lumia 520 is now available through Allphones, Dick Smith, Harvey Norman and JB Hi-Fi for $229 outright and unlocked.

It will also be sold as a prepaid device through Telstra from Tuesday April 30 for $179.

The entry level smartphone is part of Nokia's plan to offer Windows smartphones at "every price point", according to the company's Australian managing director, Steve Lewis.

"This launch marks another important step for Nokia in delivering Lumia smartphones at every price point to appeal to the widest audience possible".

The Lumia 520 has a 4in IPS display with a resolution of 480x800, is powered by a 1GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor, has 512MB RAM and comes with 8GB of internal memory.

The phone also has a microSD card slot to expand the memory, along with a 1430mAh battery that lists 360 hours of standby time and up to nine and a half hours of talk time.

The Lumia 520 includes a 5-megapixel rear camera that doubles as a 720p video recorder and the camera works with Nokia's existing digital camera lens apps, including the Cinemagraph, Smart Shoot, and Panorama lens modes that first debuted on the flagship Lumia 920.

The Lumia 520 lacks a front-facing camera but comes preloaded with Nokia's Drive, Transit, Maps and Music apps.